Grappling Industries Recap

Yesterday was our academy's first experience with a Grappling Industries tournament. Our youth team decided to sit this one out, due to low numbers in their would-be brackets, but we did bring a small group of adults, consisting of Osei Hinds, Daniel Ithier, and myself.

Despite this being a smaller tournament, all three of us had multiple matches with tough competitors. Here is a summary of the results, with more details below:

Daniel came out strong in his first ever BJJ competition. He got caught in a submission during his first match but did a great job leading up to that point and working to defend himself. Then he won his second match by points, some of which were earned via a beautiful Osoto Gari throw. This earned Daniel a silver medal in his age and weight bracket.

Osei had one opponent, whom he fought for best two of three. He ultimately got caught, but his improvement from a month ago - at "Tap Cancer Out" - to yesterday was obvious. He has been working really hard, and it absolutely shows. Osei earned silver in his age and weight bracket.

I fought in three divisions against some incredibly strong and talented women. In absolute Gi, I won my first match and lost my second by points. In 135-lb Gi, I won my first and only match for gold. In 135-lb No-Gi, I unfortunately lost all four matches to take fifth place. I walked away knowing what I need to work on for next time, so it was a great learning experience.

As always, we owe a big "thank you" to Coach Daniel for being ring-side for all our matches. Also, thanks to Calvin, as well as Dan Ithier's brother and father for coming out to show their support. And of course, thanks to our teammates for helping us prepare and our opponents for challenging us. Great work, everyone!